Peshawar District

This district and the city has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations. It was once the center of Gandhara and has subsequently been ruled by Persians, Greeks, Buddhists, Kushans, Afghans, Mughals, Marathas, Sikhs and the British. Peshawar district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–1849. The original district of Peshawar was a district of the North-West Frontier Province of British India. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the old Peshawar District became Peshawar Division comprising the current districts of Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera. In July 1988, the former Charsadda tehsil was separated and attained the status of a separate district. In 1990, the Nowshera tehsil was upgraded to the status of a district. Under the latest revision of Pakistan's administrative structure, promulgated in 2001, Peshawar was also given the status of a city district. == Demographics ==

Population {{Historical populations As of the 2023 census, Peshawar district has 690,976 households and a population of 4,758,762. The district has a sex ratio of 103.99 males to 100 females and a literacy rate of 53%: 65% for males and 41% for females. 1,355,625 (28.54% of the surveyed population) are under 10 years of age. Approximately 1,905,975 (40.05%) live in urban areas. Languages At the time of the 2023, 93.07% of the district’s population spoke Pashto, 3.79% Hindko, 1.8% Urdu and 0.55% Punjabi as their first language. Due to the settlement of Afghan refugees and language shift Pashto has gained ground at the expense of Hindko. According to linguists, the nearly-extinct Tirahi language was likely spoken in the region before the arrival of the Afghans. Ethnic groups The main ethnic groups in Peshawar district are: • Hindkowan • Gujjar • Pashtun • Kohistani Religion Muslims make up the majority in Peshawar. Peshawar once had significant minorities of Hindus and Sikhs living in the small towns and Peshawar city, but most fled during Partition. 1,800 Hindus and 1,400 Sikhs remain in the district. Christians however have continued to grow. 1897 Gazetteer According to the 1897 district gazetteer, published during the British Raj, most people living in Peshawar valley were Pathans and belonged to an agricultural community but there was also large number of Punjabi and Hindkowan communities living in the valley; all three ethnolinguistic groups religiously belonged to Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. Most people in the Peshawar city spoke and understood Urdu, while economic elites from small towns such as big feudal Khan families, traders, alongside many Hindus also spoke Urdu. Refugees In recent years, Peshawar district hosts up to 20% of all Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Peshawar's immediate environs were home to large Afghan refugee camps, with Jalozai camp hosting up to 300,000 refugees in 2001 making it the largest refugee camp in Asia at the time. with 25% of all refugees living in Peshawar district in 1981. The policy of repatriation was also encouraged by the government of Afghanistan, though many refugees had not registered themselves in Pakistan. Un registered refugees returning to Afghanistan without their old Afghan identification documents now have no official status in Afghanistan either. == Administration ==

The district Peshawar is administrated by Deputy commissioner who is chief administrative, land revenue officer and the representative of government in district. DC is assisted by Additional Deputy commissioner and Assistant commissioner. Peshawar is divided into seven tehsil which are further divided into village council (rural areas) and neighbourhood council (urban areas). There are total 357 councils in peshawar district out of which 130 are neighbourhood councils and 227 are village councils. Each tehsil has its own government known as tehsil municipal administration having an elected tehsil council and tehsil chairman except Peshawar city tehsil, which is administrated by a city local government, which is composed of an elected city council and an elected mayor. Tehsils of Peshawar District Neighbourhood and Village Councils of Peshawar District 1. Peshawar City Tehsil Village Councils = 9 Neighbourhood Councils =121 Total Councils = 130. 2. Badhaber tehsil Village Councils = 37 Neighbourhood Councils = 0 Total Councils = 37. 3. Chamkani tehsil Village Councils = 42 Neighbourhood Councils = 4 Total Councils = 46. 4. Shah Alam tehsil Village Councils = 41 Neighbourhood Councils = 2 Total Councils = 43. 5. Pishtakhara tehsil Village Councils = 34 Neighbourhood Councils = 2 Total Councils = 36. 6. Mathra tehsil Village Councils = 53 Neighbourhood Councils = 1 Total Councils = 54. 7. Hassan Khel Village Councils = 11 Neighbourhood Councils = 0 Total Councils = 11. Each Village and Neighborhood Council is composed of 7 Members which are as given below 1. Chairman of VC or NC 2. Vice Chairman of VC or NC 3. General Councilor 4. Women Councilor 5. Youth Councilor 6. Worker and Peasant Councilor 7. Minority Councilor These members are elected by voter directly through local elections Provincial Assembly Seats According to new delimitation list made by election commission of Pakistan the district Peshawar is represented in provincial assembly through 14 constituencies. Currently all seats are empty because assembly is dissolved and new elections are going to happen soon. National Assembly Seats The district is represented in the Pakistan National Assembly by five (5) members. == Education ==

Peshawar District has many universities for various disciplines starting from Humanities, General Sciences, Sciences, Engineering Sciences to Medical Sciences, Agriculture Sciences and Management Sciences. Currently, there are nine medical colleges of which two are in the public sector, including Khyber Medical University, and seven in the private sector, which all are recognised and approved by Pakistan Medical and Dental Association. which was established in 1950. The University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar and the University of Agriculture, Peshawar were also established in 1980 and 1981 respectively. The first private sector university CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences, started functioning in 1986. Soon after, another university by the name of Brains Institute and post graduate college was established. In 1995, a public sector management institute named as Institute of Management Sciences was established, which became degree awarding institute in 2005. In 2001, four (4) new private sector universities started working in Peshawar. The name of these universities are Qurtuba University, Sarhad University of Science and IT, Fast University, Peshawar Campus and City University of Science and IT. Gandhara University was established in 2002 while Abasyn University was created in 2007. In 2007, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established first public sector medical university, Khyber Medical University and the district also has 2 public sector medical colleges, one is Khyber Medical College The first women university was established in 2012, when Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University started working while private sector IQRA National University was also established in 2012. Apart from excellent range of universities, Peshawar district also has huge numbers of further education (Post School) institutes both in public and private sectors. The most renowned are Islamia College Peshawar, which was established in 1913 and was upgraded to become university in 2008 and Edwardes College Peshawar, which is the oldest of all institutions in the district started functioning in 1900. State of Education in Peshawar According to Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017 published by Alif Ailaan, Peshawar ranks 4th in Pakistan in terms of primary school infrastructure while it ranks 52nd in Pakistan for middle school infrastructure. In terms of education score, Peshawar ranks 64th in Pakistan with having a relatively low retention score. Beyond Primary Readiness in Peshawar is on the lower side as it ranks 62nd in Pakistan. The main issues reported in Taleem Do! App for district Peshawar are overcrowded class rooms and lack of class rooms in schools. Girls’ education is also one of the most reported issues in the app, with main focus on lesser number of Girls schools and also schools located at long distances. Issues of lack of teachers, non availability of science labs and lack of High Schools were also reported. Issues regarding the high fee collections in private schools was also reported on multiple occasions. == See also ==